Alternative Spring Break Trips 2017

Students Helping Honduras

Location: San Pedro Sula, Honduras
Trip Leader: Kiara Martinez, kmarti22@u.rochester.edu 
Website
Facebook

After getting its start in 2013, the University of Rochester's chapter of Students Helping Honduras (SHH) will hold its third annual alternative spring break trip this year. Over the past few years, more than 40 students have participated in SHH ASB trips. This March 30 students will depart for their own trip to San Pedro Sula, Honduras.

Working side by side with members of the Honduran community as well as SHH staff members, volunteers will contribute to constructing a school in rural Honduras using the funds they have raised throughout the year. In addition, volunteers will have opportunities to tutor local children and will engage in educational activities on a variety of topics ranging from Honduran current events and culture to the ethics of global development projects.

Throughout this week, volunteers will help construct a school that aims to empower youth through education, while simultaneously making lasting friendships with Honduran families and broadening their understanding of Honduran culture and SHH's work.

Catholic Newman Community

Location: Frenchville, PA
Trip Leader: Ivan Suminski, isuminsk@u.rochester.edu 
Website
Facebook

This year, Catholic Newman Community will be traveling to Frenchville, Pennsylvania, in order to volunteer through the organization Young People Who Care. Frenchville is located in the Central Appalachia Region of the Eastern United States, which is a very poor and rural region of the country.

Young People Who Care reaches out to those in need within Frenchville, including those struggling financially, those who are elderly or sick, and those who are homebound. We will participate in a variety of service activities, such as:

• Doing minor home repairs, yard work, and painting
• Visiting the sick and elderly
• Bringing food and other necessities to those who could not otherwise access or pay for the things they need

This is a great opportunity to help those in need, learn a new skill, meet new people from our own campus as well as students from other schools who will be volunteering alongside us, all while learning about the daily struggles of those we help and the ways in which we can help them. The lessons learned on this trip can be carried into our daily lives, our coursework, and the way in which we help others in the future.

Habitat for Humanity

Location: Greensboro, NC
Trip Leader: Eric Hebert, ehebert2@u.rochester.edu 
Website
Facebook

Habitat for Humanity strives to give hardworking families a hand up by partnering with them to build homes. During spring break we will help with the construction of a habitat home in Greensboro, North Carolina. Although what exactly we will be doing there is unknown at the moment: we could be framing, putting up drywall, installing doors/windows, or doing any other task that goes into the construction of a home.

One of the great things about Habitat for Humanity is that it requires future homeowners to work on their own home. This instills a sense of pride in the homeowners once the house is built and makes this project a partnership, not a handout. Because of this we will probably be working alongside the future homeowner family and be able to see just what this home means to them.